Dodge and Tesla are a (first 90-day) quality surprise.
J.D. Power just conducted their 34th annual survey. It spans from February through May, and it geared to research data on new 2020 model year vehicles first 90 days. The survey includes 223 questions and 87,272 vehicles. Exotic vehicles such as Lamborghini are not part of the survey.
This is the first year J.D. Power included Tesla (see note below), and the findings throughout the first 90 days of ownership were not expected. Sure, no car is perfect, but a brand-new vehicle should have few complaints over its first quarter year of ownership. Hence, the survey.
There have been some comments about Tesla’s quality in the past. Now, J.D. Power has some data on that.
Important note:
J.D. Power said it is not officially including Tesla in its rankings since the company did not provide permission for it to survey Tesla owners in 15 states where it is required. But J.D. Power still scored the company based on surveys of owners in the other 35 states. That score trailed the worst-officially ranked brand, Land Rover. – – USA Today
With that in mind, here’s how J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) scored the major brands (problems per 100 vehicles):
- Dodge (136)
- Kia (136)
- Chevrolet (141)
- Ram (141)
- Genesis (142)
- Mitsubishi (148)
- Buick (150)
- GMC (151)
- Volkswagen (152)
- Hyundai (153)
- Jeep (155)
- Lexus (159)
- Nissan (161)
- Cadillac (162)
- Infiniti (173)
- Ford (174)
- Mini (174)
- BMW (176)
- Honda (177)
- Toyota (177)
- Lincoln (182)
- Mazda (184)
- Acura (185)
- Porsche (186)
- Subaru (187)
- Chrysler (189)
- Jaguar (190)
- Mercedes-Benz (202)
- Volvo (210)
- Audi (225)
- Land Rover (228)
- Tesla (250)
Tesla’s J.D. Power poor ranking mainly centered around their build quality and complaints about body components, noises, wind noise and paint quality (among other issues). Most owners were satisfied with the drive and electronic systems.
Not everyone agrees on the method or results of this survey. What is your take on this information? Do you think this bodes well for Dodge, bad for Tesla or neither?
